Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Thrifty Gardening

I was surprised the other day when I came in to work because this book was sitting on my chair with a note. "Want this?" The book was from Angela McRae and if she had been there my answer of course, would have been, "Of course!!"

As I began thumbing through the pages covered with tips I was even happier that Angela thought I might like this book, after all, I am all about thrift and I really love gardens. The book doesn't start with thrift, Thrifty Gardening From the Ground Up, by Marjorie Harris begins with a woman who loves to garden and realizes that her love for gardening can be very expensive. She then writes a book that marries a garden-lover with a love of a frugal lifestyle.

According to Harris, you can have both, but you need to plan. She then helps to combine the two with a common-sense approach to gardening for every phase of your life. Her tips begin with purchasing a house, planning a garden--not an expensive one, but one that is suitable for every lifestyle and budget.

She includes ideas for garden planning, working with garden professionals,shopping for garden needs, how to propagate plants, decorating in the garden and even downsizing a garden. She really covers so much ground and there are too many tips to mention. Two of my favorite topics are going to yard sales with the garden in mind and scrounging for a garden. I know I will follow some of those tips first!

There are no colorful and magnificent photos of plants, but there are hints and tips galore on every page. I don't think you would have to be having a hard time financially to get some helpful tips from this book, but in the economic times we live in who doesn't want to save in every way possible?